Marquette Loses To Saint Louis, 51-39

Box Score

Milwaukee, March 5 ? Marquette closed out its regular season Saturday afternoon at the Bradley Center with a 51-39 loss at the hands of Saint Louis.

Steve Novak had ten points, Todd Townsend and Joe Champan each registered eight.

?I think they did a good job of defending me tonight, they limited my touches,? Novak said. ?We didn?t bring our best game today.?

Marquette (19-10, 7-9) found early success in the paint, with 12 of its 19 first half points coming inside. The Golden Eagles heated up to a 14-4 lead as Saint Louis (9-20, 6-10) struggled from the field, shooting 26.1% in the first half on six-for-23 field goal shooting.

Anthony Drejaj ended the eight minute drought for Saint Louis with his 3-pointer in the sixth minute. After Drejaj?s trey it was Marquette?s turn to falter offensively. The Golden Eagles would go two-for-five in the final six minutes. Steve Novak scored his 1,000 point with 3:42 left in the half with a 3-point shot that put the Golden Eagles up 17-11.

Another Saint Louis 3-pointer, this time by Dwayne Polk brought the Billikens to within three, 17-14. Novak answered, however, taking the ball inside in the last minute to give Marquette the 19-14 halftime edge.

The Golden Eagles came out of the halftime break still in an offensive slump, making only one basket in the first six minutes. Saint Louis took the opportunity to chip away at Marquette?s advantage, eventually taking the lead off of a lay-up by Ian Vouyoukas, 22-21. After being ahead by three points, 24-21, Danny Brown committed an offensive foul that led to a Dameon Mason trey to tie the score at 24.

?We just weren?t nearly as aggressive, they hit some shots and they got momentum to go their way,? coach Tom Crean said. ?We could never just capitalize the way we needed to.?

The Golden Eagles took advantage of two Billiken turnovers to reclaim the lead. Todd Townsend stole the ball from Reggie Bryant and converted on the lay-up to give Marquette the two point lead.

After Joe Chapman forced a jump ball that gave Marquette possession, Ryan Amoroso connected inside to give the Golden Eagles a 28-24 lead. The score would tie two more times before Saint Louis would ultimately take the lead for the final time with 3:37 remaining.

?Saint Louis gets the credit today, they were more aggressive then us, they communicated better than us, they shot better than us,? Crean said.

Drejaj led the way for Saint Louis with 13 points, Dwayne Polk had 11 and Vouyoukas had 10.

Marquette now heads to the Conference USA Tournament in Memphis, Tenn., March 9 -12.